Illumined Life Leadership

Each of us has unique talents and gifts that we can share with the world. One gift that is found in all of us, however, is intuition.

Intuition is defined as the “instinctive and unconscious knowing without deduction or reasoning.” Simply put, it is when you get a gut feeling about something without knowing why or without any evidence to back it up.

Some of us have a very keen intuition—we feel it and we follow it often, because we’ve learned to listen to it and trust it. Others of us can’t really pin-point when we are getting an intuitive “vibe” or explain what we feel. Truth be told…it just takes a lot of practice to identify it and learn how to use it to your benefit in daily life.

One of the strongest intuitive feelings I have ever experienced happened in middle school. My sister and I would usually hang around after school for a while with other friends until our mother was able to pick us up. This one afternoon, however, the older sister of one of my friends came by and asked us if she could take us to get ice cream. Pretty harmless, right? My mother would not be coming for a while, so why not go? Well, almost the minute I got into the car I got a terrible feeling in the pit of my stomach, I almost felt numb, and the thought that came to my mind was—“Don’t go…something bad is going to happen.”

Well, needless to say, I did not listen. And, if you would have snapped a photo of me in that car, you would have seen a young girl with a frightened look on her face, crouched down into the seat as low as she could go. It was a rainy day and the roads were wet, and within 10 minutes of leaving school “it” happened. Yes, we were in a car accident with a very large truck that sent the car into a spin on the wet road. We survived with only some sprains, scratches and bruises, and even managed to get back to school in a taxi cab before my mom showed up.

I was grateful, of course, for not having been seriously injured, but I was even more grateful for experiencing that very deep knowing—or intuition—that whenever I feel it again I know better to listen.

Another intuition I feel very frequently is related to my children and their health. I am sure most mothers can attest to the same types of feelings!! I don’t take my children to the doctor or hospital frequently, but sometimes, you just know that something is up. It’s not just a cold or a tummy ache, but it’s more. When I was a new mother I did not trust my intuition much and took my son to the doctor a bit too frequently. But within a few months of getting the hang of the “mother thing”, I did begin to trust my intuition. And, I must admit that about 98% of the time that my gut tells me something is wrong, I am right. I don’t even think twice any more…it’s off to the doctor or hospital I go!

Now, it is very possible that your intuition can be stronger in certain circumstances, especially when related to someone you love, like your spouse or children. I know this is very true for me. We can take those strong instances, though, and remember the feeling, because that same feeling, although not as strong in other situations, can still be detected and applied. It means being very aware.

This past week I was coaching a client around an issue; a decision she could not make. When I asked her to tell me how she would feel if she made one decision versus another her reaction was incredible. It was not her verbal reaction, but the physical reaction that she explained to me. In her words… “OMG…this feeling is very familiar. When I see myself doing this it is like I am making the same mistake I did years ago.” Her intuition was clearly letting her know that this was not the way to go. If she hadn’t taken the time to imagine how she would feel about making the decision, she might have taken the path she was used to that would have caused her more pain down the road.

Intuition is something that can grow stronger in us as we learn how to identify it. It is also a skill that we can use daily to help us make decisions—from simple ones to complex ones. You can check in with your intuition when hiring some one, when making an important purchase (like a car), when deciding with whom to spend your time, with investing your money, when deciding how to change your career, etc. No one knows what is best for you than you do! Practice listening to and feeling what your body is trying to tell you. You may be pleasantly surprised and truly enjoy the benefits.

Here are some simple steps to developing your intuition:
*Take a few minutes before any decision to think about your options and see what feelings arise. Are the feelings dark or light? Energizing or debilitating? What feels better? What feels right?

*Take a risk and don’t reason! The minute you bring reason into the picture you’ll talk yourself out of your core feeling or thought. Jump right into action and evaluate the results later. Was the risk worth it? Were you right on?

*If you get a gut feeling or thought when speaking with someone, share it with them to see if you are correct. You may have saved them time, money or energy!

*Keep an Intuition Journal and keep track of what you feel, hear, smell, taste, etc. You will learn quickly how your body communicates with you.

I’d love for you to share any intuitions that you have had that have either worked out or not. How did you learn from the experience?

Here are a couple of great quotes I found about intuition, both serious and humorous:

“You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. What you’ll discover will be wonderful. What you’ll discover is yourself!”
-Actor Alan Alda

“I feel there are two people inside of me—me and my intuition. If I go against her, she’ll screw me every time, and if I follow her, we get along quite nicely.”
-Actress Kim Basinger

Go within and find your intuition…embrace her/him…enjoy the results!

Monique